Whirlwind [Avatar Aang]

☁Chapter Three☁

The early morning sunrise created a soft pink haze around Nazadori. As high up as she was, she knew she was slowly becoming part of the sky. Clouds floated around her as she sat on top of the highest ramps for the mail system. It wasn't that hard to get up here, not if someone knew where the secret staircase was, which Nazadori did. Exploring the city when she was younger really paid off. It helped her run away from all the despair, but it also gave her access to things she never would have known about, things that were so valuable to her.

She gripped the ramp she was sitting on as she gazed up into the sky that was surrounding her. Her knuckles were very quickly turning white. The sun peeked out from behind the white, fluffy clouds, trying to say hello to her. Closing her eyes for a second, she felt like she was floating into outer space, where all the Spirits must live if there were as many as she read about. Her soul reached towards the heavens as she tried to calm her racing heart. 

She hadn't slept at all that night. All she could do was replay the public funeral procession over and over in her mind. It was still going on, the funeral procession was, but they were just taking Bumi's body all over the city to every part so every single citizen could say goodbye to their beloved king. The only thing she could picture was the dead body floating around the streets of Omashu, haunting everyone who came into contact with it, especially her. 

Her mind was plagued with images of the once lively king deteriorating slowly as time went on. Watching Bumi die . . . that was something she never wanted to think about again. Seeing the life slip out of his eyes, feeling the life slip out of his hands, was one of the worst experiences in her life. He had thought that she was Avatar Aang in his final moments, and she played along with it because that was what she thought was the right thing to do. But was it the right thing to do? Was it the right thing to watch him die, watch his final moments of weakness as someone else? If she ever met Avatar Aang, she'd have to tell him about Bumi's final words because they were so personal. 

There was nothing she could do to save Bumi. So, why did she feel so guilty about his death? She was there when it happened; there must have been something she could do. For months leading up to his death, he was a spry old man, doing crazy stuff that only Bumi could do. But then, he got sick, struck down by an invisible illness that affected the old man. None of the healers could do anything about the illness. They even had special healers from the Northern Water Tribe try and heal him, but nothing worked. It was probably old age, they said. Nazadori knew they were right, but deep down, she wished she could have saved Bumi and helped him live forever.

All Nazadori could do was stare up at the pink clouds above her as the tears rolled down her cheeks. It was warm outside, yes, but her tears were freezing on her skin, creating little crystals of sadness on the outside where everyone else could see them. If anyone were with her right now, they would know what was going on inside her heart right now. But no one was here, no one knew, and no one cared. She was all alone.

She knew she should probably get back to her house soon. Her family would either be waking up soon or coming home from work and would notice her missing from her bed. Nazadori slowly stood up on the ramp, feeling the breeze blow through her loose green dress. She spread her arms out as she closed her eyes, enjoying the breeze on her back. For a second there, it felt like she was going to freefall down to the ground, but when she opened her eyes again, fear seized her heart at just how close she was to falling off.

Nazadori jumped down into the area on the ramp where the carts always came through with the mail and packages. Down to the right at the crevice where the walls of the ramp rose up was the little door that opened up to the stairs that she took up here, so she got down on her hands and knees, crawling through the small opening toward the stairs. She dropped down to the stairs and let out a soft sigh, brushing her cheeks with her thumbs, getting rid of the evidence of her sadness. With each step she took down the stairs, her heart grew lighter, but that was because she was ignoring everything for the time being.